Yarmuth predicts feds will not approve Medicaid waiver

October 18, 2016

U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth says the federal government will not approve Kentucky’s proposed Medicaid overhaul and has asked Gov. Matt Bevin to withdraw it.

The Democratic congressman from Louisville held a news conference in the state Capitol on Tuesday along with several other Democratic leaders asking Bevin to withdraw the plan. Yarmuth said he opposed Bevin’s plan because it would charge people monthly premiums and would cause about 86,000 people to lose their insurance.

A spokeswoman for Bevin said Yarmuth was "playing politics." Yarmuth is the state’s only Democratic member of Congress. The state’s Republican congressional delegation sent a letter to federal officials earlier this year urging them to approve Bevin’s proposal.

A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman declined to comment. The agency has said it is committed to working with Bevin.